The Ducati TT and F1 forum and New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted the fifth annual Symposium that accompanied the Loudon Road Race Series’ final event of the 2013 season. A get-together of like-minded Ducati TT/F1 owners and enthusiasts, this year’s event combined bike displays with on-track racing opportunities and also honored one of America’s great racers, Jimmy Adamo, whose accomplishments made these bikes famous. Adamo was killed competing in the 1993 Daytona 200, and this year’s event was held in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of his tragic passing.
The event started from humble beginnings at TT/F1 forum member Lou Saif’s shop in Queens, New York. It is a donation-based event, with many contributing either monetarily or with their time, or both. It has grown in popularity mainly through the efforts of Saif and forum members Steve Munro, Ralph Stechow and Mike Weber.
Weber worked with speedway official Steve Aspland to secure a location within the facility for both garage space for several of Adamo’s former race bikes and to have a large event tent adjacent to the garage area so that roughly 50 cherished Adamo-era Ducati race bikes could be displayed, allowing the racing public to get up close to the amazing machinery that was piloted around racetracks back in the day. Aspland has raced various Ducati machines over the course of the last few decades, and he competed with Adamo back in that era. His efforts in working with track management paid off: The organizers were allotted the space needed to house the growing event.
Several European attendees helped the event garner global recognition. Among them were Adamo’s legendary tuner Reno Leoni, who shared many photos and memories with the group, who loved hearing Leoni’s first-hand accounts of the events of the day. Leoni accompanied his fellow Italian Carlo Leoncini, who produces his own line of parts for these legendary machines.
Noted race engineer Pat Slinn from Poynton, England, was also on hand. Slinn had a hand in Mike Hailwood’s famous 1978 Isle of Man win, and he went on to tune for Tony Rutter, resulting in four TT2 World Championships for Ducati. Slinn’s account of the machinery and European events of that period are still very detailed. Slinn noted that the appreciation for the TT-era Ducatis is no better than in the United States.
Bernd Bressel contributed his time in working to rescue and convert a lot of racing film footage to electronic media and also set up two separate video screens that showed clips of Adamo racing in that era, as well as a promotional video of Adamo and Leoni produced by Italian TV company RAI.
USCRA racer and graphic artist Doug Donelan designed the posters that the group had made to commemorate the event. Donelan was at Daytona when Adamo was killed and said that he felt honored to be able to contribute his skills to this event.
Enzo Assainte was on hand with a large variety of Adamo-related memorabilia, including many photos, home videos, and many personal Adamo items he collected during his time as Adamo’s mechanic, as well as items donated by Adamo’s widow, Melanie. Assainte’s presence was a nice complement to the weekend in that his offerings displayed Adamo’s transition from the Taglioni-based machines early in his career to the Bordi-based 851 and 888, which helped to provide a complete picture of this beloved Ducati racer.
Many in attendance felt that this year’s event had a more personal feel to it due to the people involved and not just the machinery, capped off by the attendance of Adamo’s two daughters in honor of their father. When Adamo died, younger daughter Danielle was only 8 months old, and her older sister Jamie, who does have memories of her father, was 3 years old. Regardless, both daughters were excited and shocked at the level of appreciation that the group had for their dad and his accomplishments within the Ducati world. When the pair arrived at the event, there were few dry eyes in the house. The group made sure to include the girls in the event as it progressed.
On Saturday night, the group presented both Slinn and Leoni with lifetime achievement awards for their work, which helped the Ducati TT garner its notoriety; this, at a time when the Ducati brand teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Both men graciously accepted their awards and spoke of how great it felt to be acknowledged for their efforts within the Ducati community today.
Slinn was doubly appreciative, as the group threw him a 70th birthday party, during which he was presented with a cake depicting him standing next to a TT back in the day. Member Jane Kennedy designed the cake, as well as cookies that featured an old-school Veglia tachometer face.
The group acquired two original Arai Adamo Replica helmets to present to the Adamo girls during Saturday evening’s festivities. A new Arai Adamo replica was sourced from the collection of a member and presented to Adamo’s older daughter Jamie. The helmet featured the original red-white-and-green color scheme designed by her father and included an inscription commemorating the fifth annual TT/F1 Symposium, also honoring her father. Jamie told the crowd how appreciative she was for the gift and that she was honored to have it.
The helmet presented to younger Adamo daughter Danielle was the rare red-white-and-blue scheme and was the very last Arai Adamo replica in the inventory of legendary Southern California Arai helmet distributor Sammy Tanner, who had long ago set aside one helmet from the original production run way back in 1991. Tanner had been holding out to have the helmet go to the right home or to a good cause. Tanner and Assainte have recently been working together to have a small production run of new Arai Adamo Replica helmets produced. When Assainte mentioned the event and the attendees to Tanner, the latter generously offered to donate the helmet to the event and to Adamo’s daughter. Danielle told the crowd that she was shocked that Tanner had the foresight to hold on to such an item for so many years and noted that she was honored to have it, as she had long wanted one of her own.
After the girls accepted their gifts as appreciation for making the trek to New Hampshire, they presented Lou Saif with an original Jimmy Adamo memorial pin that were produced by a Ducati enthusiast 20 years ago and sold to benefit Adamo’s family after his death. Adamo’s widow donated one of the few pins from her personal collection to Saif for his tireless efforts to make the event such a great success.
The Loudon Road Race Series held a special Jimmy Adamo Memorial Twins race on Sunday, and afterward, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway staff held a special awards ceremony for the race, with the Adamo girls presenting awards to the winners of each class.
Chris Jensen took top honors in the Expert class, with Rich Paxson winning the Amateur class on his Ducati TT that he started racing in 1988. It was an emotional win for both veteran riders, as they had both competed alongside Adamo back in the day. Each racer noted how special a win it was for that very reason.
At the conclusion of the event, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway staff told the group that they were happy to have them and looked forward to having them back and hosting the event again.
The event’s organizers would like to thank noted contributors to the event Seth Wolins, for the party tent for the bike display; Lucy Berritto, for the snacks and beverages; Rich Paxson, for the beer and pizza; and Steve “I Paint” D’Angelo.
For more information about the Ducati TT/F1 forum, please go to www.ducatittandf1.com. For more information about New Hampshire Motor Speedway, please go to www.nhms.com.